Hansel And Gretel

On a grim trip from home,
Hansel and Gretel fled the
tortures of Gretel’s stepmother.
They left bread crumbs,
wishes of not returning
all along the path
as they traveled.
And off the two idealists went
into the deep woods of life.
Sometimes her father would secretly
help them with money
for a car or tuck a twenty
in Gretel’s coat pocket for food.
But Hansel resented Gretel’s money.
So, one day he walked her to the
alter of a great candy house.
(One of those fixer-uppers.)
Inside was a witchy old lady
who coerced the two kids into
holy matrimony.
Each day the witch forced Hansel
to show her his finger to see
if his wedding band was still on.
Gretel never saw the witch,
though she knew something awful
was living with them.
(She couldn’t comprehend that
she was the witch.)
When the oven broke the two
kids didn’t know what to do.
So they fought over who broke it.
For months no cooking was done.
Hansel grew thin and so did his hair.
Gretel became fat and impatient.
The candy house eventually melted
down to a pile of sticky goo after
years of rainy weather.
And so Hansel and Gretel moved
to a trailer.
It was small and cramped and
Gretel’s father didn’t like to visit.
And there they lived out the duration
of their golden years,
smoking cigarettes and making each
other into a ghost and a witch.